Hello Laos (PART 2)

On our last post, I promised some explanations: Friend's bars, tubing, ipod pimpage and what have you. I have not forgotten that promise. Ty and I concluded our brief Luang Prabang experience with a little more dinner theater. I have to tell you (and this is nothing against my Lao peeps who may or may not be reading the blog here) Lao food leaves much to be desired and is not nearly as delectable as Thai food - this place, lamentably, was no exception. I am delighted to report that the dancing blue fellow on the right more than made up for the lackluster treats.

The next morning we boarded yet another mini-buss and headed out for the oddest little place on earth, Vang Vieng, Laos.

You can't see them in this photo, but the Vang Vieng street sides are dotted with "Friends" and "Family Guy" bars. These bars play nothing but reruns of Friends or Family Guy continuously all day long - some have flat screens and surround sound, others, not so much. At any given time of day, these bars harbor lounging backpackers sipping ice cold Beer Lao or munching away on baguette sandwiches or pizza with catchup sauce. Some literally stay there all day - breakfast, lunch, and dinner (you know who you are). The waiters at these establishments are unquestionably out of their minds high. Some of them mumble inaudibly and look confused - others sing.

So the big draw in VV is the "tubing." We first found out about this when we noticed several travelers as far away as Thailand strutting around proudly in shirts that say "In The Tubing - Vang Vieng, Laos." I asked some backpacker in Koh Tao what the shirt meant and she replied, "You don't know about tubing in Vang! Where have you been!" So, anyway, let me break down the whole tubing thing. Tuk Tuk type busses pile tractor innertubes atop their roofs and haul loads of tank top clad farangs to a "drop zone" three kilometers up the Nam Song river. Once you jump on your tube and are whisked away by the rapid current, several river side bars engage in what locals call "farang fishing" which constitutes throwing rope or bamboo across the river; the idea is the "farang" grabs hold of the fishing rod at which point they are pulled into the bar. Each bar has their own attraction including zip lines, rope swings, and my favorite "the slide of death" where a farang recently ruptured her spleen - good stuff. Dancy, Ty and I decided to bypass the majority of these establishments but on the onset of a lightening storm elected to take shelter in the "Last Bar." I was surprised to see that the menu at this bar consisted of "Magic Mushroom Shakes," Happy Shakes (these are made with Lao's finest marijuana of course) and Opium Tea; lastly, there was something called a "Special Shake" that I didn't inquire about. Needless to say, we didn't partake in the party. Something about the idea of imbibing psychotropic substances prior to tube rafting down unfamiliar waters in a lightening storm didn't appeal to me. Wuss.

What we did partake in was the iPod pimpage. VV is loaded with these little cafes where you can load your ipod or computer with albums or movies. Notice Ralph here with the earbuds in his nosebuds.

You can get twelve complete albums for ten bucks or movies for about two bucks a piece. Ty picked The Hangover, The Watchman, and Dumb and Dumber. Yes!

Besides the gratuitous drug use and blatant music piracy, VV was still quite beautiful. It reminded me of Pandora on Avatar. Crap, we should have got Avatar when we had the chance.

After two days in VV - it was time to, you guessed it, board another buss. This time, we were off to the much more grown up capital of Laos, Vientiane.

My (and I'm pretty sure "our") favorite part about Vientiane was this place - The Pizza Company. Remember "stuffed crust" at Pizza Hut? This place laughs in The Hut's face.

Yep, cheese AND sausage stuffed crust. We left satisfied, slightly ill, and morbidly obese. We went back the next day. Seriously.

Vientiane was super classy. Sidewalks, lined roads and... check this out... automobiles!

As I said before, we pretty much leached on to our new friends from town to town. We had bushels of fun.

On our last night in Laos, we all went bowling. Ty is the best bowler in the world - no kidding. it's disgusting. Here is her typical "STRIKE dance." It happened a lot.

Here is Nancy's.

So, I didn't strike dance that much, but I think I deserve the award for the best approach. Style matters.

Being a little mini-bussed out, Ty and I hopped a couple of flights back into Bangkok and then to Samui. Awww the turquoise waters of Samui.

When we got to Samui we met with our employer and got acquainted. We stayed in a resort type place for a few days and finally found our permanent digs. Check it out! I'm excited. We got the bungalow house at the end of the plunger pool. Yes.

Seeing as how this is our first semblance of a "real" house - Ty was pretty excited and wanted to show it off. Here's the living room and the jumbo Thai fridge.

It's not a Panasonic flat screen, but we got a DVD player today for 12 bucks and we're watching The Office as I write. All the comforts of home.

Heather, you'd be proud of this kitchen.

Our modest bedroom with plenty of room for an air mattress on the floor for company. Hint hint.

And another cute picture of our new "home" at the end our lap pool. We've even been exercising in the mornings by swimming laps. Super fit baby.

Two days ago, I began official work. It turns out I am teaching at the local University so it's a bit different than the younger kids. Ty begins work next week with some private lessons and maybe a class with the little tykes. It's a little up in the air right now - but we're hoping it will all become more solid in the next few weeks.

Misses and Kisses everyone~~

N and T